Did you know that approximately 1 in 5,000 patients who have had surgery have had surgical instruments left inside their body? Such medical malpractice can cause serious problems, but now, RFID technology is looking to change that statistic.

While RFID technology is already being used to track items in retail and warehousing, metal RFID tags are being used to track surgical instruments and other tools. More specifically, the tags will prevent surgical instruments being left behind in a patient’s body after an operation.

Until recently, medical staff would have to count small items to ensure nothing was left behind. But now, small, metal RFID tags can be inserted into surgical instruments and sponges during the manufacturing process and can be read from approximately 6.5 ft. away.

While the risk of electromagnetic interference between the metal RFID tags and other equipment is low, hospitals should double check that everything is okay.

Learn more about solutions for hospitals.

Is the food you’re eating your safe? Check the barcode to see where it’s from, as food regulations vary by country.

Perhaps the 90’s band, Barenaked Ladies, was onto something with their famed lyrics, “Chickity China the Chinese chicken. You have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin’.” While your brain may not literally stop ticking, since there are no food inspections for foods grown or processed in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam or Thailand, who knows what that chicken could do to you.

Photos were released depicting how chickens in China are slaughtered for consumption. Most of the time, food products will not say, “Made in China,” so how can you tell where your chicken, and other food is coming from?

The barcode! Even if the product doesn’t verbally specify where it originated, each country is assigned a country of origin code, which is always the first three digits of a barcode. For example, products made in the USA have barcodes beginning with 000-019, but beware of barcodes that start with 690-695, meaning they products are made in China.

For a full list of product codes, visit the GS1. And next time you’re in the grocery store, beware of “Chickity China, the Chinese chicken.”

In a down economy, it’s inspiring to see so many entrepreneurial spirits. But, if you’re going to be selling a product, you’re going to need a barcode.

If you’re in the US, you’ll need to visit the GS1 website. Then, fill out the application. You’ll need to know estimated annual sales, approximate number of products you need barcodes for and contact information. From there, you’ll receive a GS1 company prefix, which can be used to create the barcode numbers for every product that you plan on selling.

However, getting a barcode is not free. The initial fee is approximately $760 for 100 barcodes, but varies. This also includes licensing to your company prefix for the year, and a smaller annual renewal fee will reoccur in order to continue using the prefix.

Once you’ve applied, received your prefix and paid, you’ll need to create a UPC barcode. Check out our free barcode generator and learn more about barcoding your product.

No need to be scared of that computer at the library or internet café, once again, Google is here to save the day! Google has a new way to securely log users into their accounts on public computers via, you guessed it, QR codes.

By visiting accounts.google.com/sesame on the computer, a Google login will appear on your phone, allowing you to log-in safely and securely on the computer rather than worrying about your security being compromised on a public computer. For additional security measures, be sure to use your network’s cellular data rather than the establishments free Wi-Fi.

**UPDATE**
After only a few short days, Google has discontinued the service, stating:

Hi there – thanks for your interest in our phone-based login experiment.
While we have concluded this particular experiment, we constantly experiment with new and more secure authentication mechanisms.
Stay tuned for something even better!
Dirk Balfanz, Google Security Team.

What could this something better be? Will it still involve QR Codes, or perhaps RFID or NFC? Share your thoughts and speculations by commenting below, or on our Facebook or twitter pages.

Honeywell showcased their new products, the Stratos 2700 Hybrid Bioptic Scanner, Optimus 5900 RFID Mobile Computer and Remote Mastermind 3.0 software at NRF.

Today, NRF came to an end, but there were lots of innovative new products featured, including Barcoding Inc.’s very own FRAN.

Honeywell unveiled their new products—the Stratos 2700 Hybrid Bioptic Scanner and the Optimus 5900 RFID Mobile Computer. The Stratos 2700 Hybrid Bioptic Scanner is ideal for 2D barcodes, featuring a hybrid platform that specializes in rapid pass-through scanning and area-imaging technology and will begin shipping in July. The Optimus 5900 RFID Mobile Computer combines RIFD and ADC technologies for maximum retail productivity, accurately reading up to 45 EPC Gen2 RFID tags in 10 seconds and will ship in February.

In addition to the hardware, Honeywell’s new Remote Mastermind 3.0 software allows retailers to update and manage entire retail solutions, including scanners, mobile computers and even Android and iOS device, which will ship in the second quarter of 2012.

Learn more about Honeywell and their products.